THE House of Representatives Tuesday moved to probe the Assets Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON, over alleged under-valuation of some tank farms that it put up for sale on behalf of clients. This development was sequel to a motion promoted by Rep Danburam Abubakar Nuhu.
The House directed its committees on Banking and Currency as well as Finance to investigate the matter and report back within one month, and urged AMCON to suspend further transaction on the sale of the assets pending the outcome of the investigation.
The House in plenary resolved that AMCON had invited interested members of the public to submit bids for the purchase of 32 petroleum products storage tanks located in Ibafon, Apapa, Lagos State as a result of the failure of some oil companies to up their debts four years after the corporation took over their non-performing loans from commercial banks.
But the lawmakers said the processes leading to the proposed sale of the 32 tank farms worth several billions of Naira by AMCON has been alleged to be in contravention of Section 28 of the corporation’s Act of 2010.
Citing the relevant Section, the lawmaker said “the valuation of, and purchase price of eligible bank assets shall be determined in accordance with guidelines issued from time-to-time by the Central Bank of Nigeria,” but that the provision was kept aside.
Credit: Vanguard